How quickly things change...

JULY 3, 2021

GIVE THE GIFT OF CRIKEY | TIP OFF | VIEW IN BROWSER

A few days and one Sydney outbreak ago, I was in Canberra with our political reporter Kishor Napier-Raman. With the parliamentary winter recess coming there was a palpable sense of relief in government circles that things were going OK — not spectacular, but OK.

How quickly things change. Barnaby blows up the Nationals and unsettles the Coalition; the Australian National Audit Office exposes a rort of eye-watering proportions; and the prime minister starts to appear very vulnerable on the vaccine rollout and quarantine issues. Crikey has been highlighting this latter point for months now, and this past week the PM’s state allies and the news media have caught on: the PM is getting lost in his own spin.

For today, here’s a selection of our best reporting of the week, including Bernard Keane and Napier-Raman on the car park rorts, Guy Rundle and others on the return of Barnaby Joyce (and the challenge and opportunity Joyce presents for Labor), and stories on the frontline of the the COVID crisis — featuring Madonna King, Janine Perrett and Mitchell Squire.

For some light relief, I’ve thrown in Cam Wilson, who used his web-sleuthing skills to unearth the PM’s Spotify song list (anyone for some Prince this weekend?).

Enjoy,

Peter Fray
Editor-in-chief

To win the cities, Labor must be honest with the country

GUY RUNDLE 5 minute read

How does Labor best a populist party leader who 'tells it like it is'? Maybe by really telling it like it is about the government's dishonesty and stupidity.

A rort is a rort is a rort

A big and blatant rort: how Morrison and Tudge simply picked a long list of dud car park projects

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

What happened when the government spent hundreds of millions of dollars on car parks intended for electoral gain? Waste of taxpayer money on a colossal scale, and a revolt in victoria.

Can taxpayers get the rorted car parks money back? We asked a lawyer

MICHAEL BRADLEY 3 minute read

There's no way the Morrison government would prosecute itself over money it consciously misspent, is there?

What good rorts: some Liberal seats were so needy they were allowed to double-dip

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 3 minute read

It was an extraordinary coincidence that the Melbourne seats most in need of car parks happened to be marginal Coalition ones.

On car park rorts, the fix was in from the very start — and the bureaucrats knew it

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

Even before it was developed, it was obvious the Coalition's car park fund was a rort, and bureaucrats simply avoided having anything to do with it.

Bureaucrats and minister try magic pixie dust to hide Rort of the Year

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

Another ANAO report, another rort. But this one's a whopper: hundreds of millions of dollars spent trying to save seats in Victoria with no accountability of any kind.

Where Prince and Tiësto meet Hillsong and Tay-Tay: what we can learn from Scott Morrison’s public Spotify account

CAM WILSON 3 minute read

A look at the PM's public account hints at a man with diverse taste and curiosity about genres, including metal and dance.

Lack of proactive COVID policy is lighting the fuse for medico burnout

MADONNA KING 4 minute read

Australia's COVID reaction has been all about catching up to the effects of the virus, not getting ahead. Feedback from medical professionals indicates this is likely to have a devastating effect on those caring for us.

Too much spin, too little action: a view from the front line of aged care’s COVID crisis

JANINE PERRETT 2 minute read

Compulsory vaccinations in the sector are naturally welcome, but staff shortages and appallingly low wages desperately need addressing too.

‘The vaccine fridge is a living monument to failure’: a GP’s view from the front line

MITCHELL SQUIRE 4 minute read

Scott Morrison has assured GPs they won't get sued for administering the AZ vaccine to people under 60, but many aren't prepared to trust him.

Indefinite detention of asylum seekers is lawful. Yes, that’s what the High Court has determined

MICHAEL BRADLEY 4 minute read

The court's ruling on asylum seekers appears to champion confusion, contradiction and inaction, while giving the green light to indefinite detention.

The pandemic is a risky business — the virus and the treatments have hazards

AMBER SCHULTZ 3 minute read

The coronavirus is nothing to be sneezed at, but every vaccine, every option, has attendant risks. Staying informed is the best medicine.

Lying, cheating pollies take heart: being sin-binned is a mere fleeting penance

JANINE PERRETT 3 minute read

It's apparent that in the Morrison government there are no consequences for bad behaviour other than a short stint on the backbench.

Intergenerational Report: same old, same old for a document long ignored and usually very wrong

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

Does anyone really care what's in the Intergenerational Report? It only gets reflected in government policy when politically convenient or helpful to the government's donors.

Quarantine facilities must be bolstered to address dwindling migration numbers

AMBER SCHULTZ 3 minute read

Migrants are key to Australia's economic recovery, as are quarantine facilities to ensure they can come here safely.

Reporting the reporters: Beijing’s watchful eye on Chinese students at Australian unis

JORDYN BEAZLEY 4 minute read

Chinese students studying journalism in Australia face all sorts of risks — and some of those risks come from their own classmates.